The Transformative Negotiator: Changing the Way We Come to Agreement from the Inside Out

A down-to-earth approach to negotiating that focuses on connecting with others and coming to an agreement, rather than simply “winning.”

This innovative book presents a transformative approach to negotiation that weaves together the spiritual and the strategic. You'll learn a profoundly effective way of communication that will help you move past the ordinary mechanics of negotiations and achieve realistic goals and positive, lasting outcomes. This holistic, mindful method will change the way you interact with people in all areas of your life.

Attorney Michèle Huff has negotiated on behalf of Fortune 500 companies, startup companies, and government entities as well as hundreds of individual clients. She is currently the University of New Mexico's lawyer for research, technology, and intellectual property.

“The Transformative Negotiator is a beautifully written meditation on the art of human interaction. Huff writes from the heart, not just the head. The book is easy to read, with practical advice and an engaging wide range of stories about how to come to agreement.”
—Natalie Goldberg, bestselling author of Writing Down the Bones, Wild Mind, and The True Secret of Writing

MICHÈLE HUFF is a transactional lawyer who has negotiated on behalf of companies, including Oracle Corporation, Sun Microsystems, and Canal+, higher education institutions, including the University of California, Berkeley and University of New Mexico, and on behalf of hundreds of individual clients, including artists, authors, entrepreneurs, and engineers.

She is currently the Director of the Office of Business Contracts and Brand Protection at the University of California, Berkeley, where she negotiates revenue-generating contracts, licenses copyrights and trademarks, protects the campus brand, and manages a team of legal professionals.

For nine years, she served as University of New Mexico’s senior lawyer for research, technology, and intellectual property where she negotiated research contracts with academic institutions, government agencies, and industry partners. Prior to that, Michèle was the managing partner of the Archer Law Group, LLC.  She began her career at Sun Microsystems and co-founded a Silicon Valley software start-up.

Michèle conducted a session for UC Berkeley staff entitled: What Lies Beyond “Win-Win” Negotiations: How to Practice transformative Negotiations at the Next Opportunity at Work (NOW) conference in 2019. She has taught intellectual property and licensing at the UNM School of Law, and led negotiation workshops for local community foundations and technology venture associations in Santa Fe, New Mexico. She developed a course on Transformative Negotiation, which she delivered to UNM's Mediation Certification program and Employee Organizational Development group. She presents to Human Resources professionals (SHRM NM annual meeting), mediators (NM ADR Symposium and NM Mediation Association), and entrepreneurs (National Business Incubator Association and Creative Startups Accelerator). Her book is taught in the Economics’ Department Negotiation 113 class at Colorado College.

Ms. Huff was born and raised in New York City, received her BA from Colorado College and her JD, magna cum laude, from the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law-Arizona State University. She became a member of the California Bar in 1985. Follow her at http://www.michelehuff.com.